Wednesday 10 October 2012 12.01 EDT
First published on Wednesday 10 October 2012 12.01 EDT

A member of the British security services has been granted anonymity for a trial in which he is accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague within the intelligence community.

At a hearing on Wednesday, the senior resident judge at Southwark crown court, his honour Judge McCreath, said he was satisfied that the defendant required anonymity because of the "real and imminent risk to his life" if he was named.

He said the man, who will face trial under the pseudonym Mark Barton, would give evidence behind screens to conceal his identity.

"The material before me which I cannot specify satisfies me that the risk is real and has been objectively verified and is imminent in that it is present and continuing," the judge said. "It is impossible to say more than that without revealing too much. The nature of [Barton's] occupation means that it is against the public interest for me to say more."

The defendant has been charged with harassment and sexual assault of the unnamed woman, the court heard. No date has been fixed for trial.